We're not saying all standards testing is bad. Tests do have a place - but that place should not be a place that crowds out all other learning opportunities.

Whether the standard is Common Core or NCLB, standards testing must be completed and do need to be implemented wisely, in part because of the kind of fluid economic format we've chosen in America, at this time. Americans go where the jobs are today. If a parent moves from one state to another, their children will come with them. Therefore, what Eighth-graders learn in one state should be same for those children in all states. Unfortunately, it is not, currently.

Each child, school, and teacher should be given the leeway to actually teach. Broad standards are also good - but they need to be implemented carefully and given time to work. Amanda Ripley's great piece published online over the weekend, and in this week's edition of Time magazine, shows that Kentucky of all states, has been doing this - applying the Common Core standards broadly, with small individual exceptions. After three years of implementation, the Kentucky experience with Common Core seems to be going amazingly well.